An object of the present invention is to provide a versatile bandage, applicable to either a right or a left hand, to give protection to an injury to the palm, such as a cut or deep burn, in a manner to permit reasonable use of the injured hand.
Bandages of many kinds are available for many different parts of the human body, for covering and protecting cuts, burns and other injuries. Available devices include the widely used strip bandages, consisting simply of an adhesively coated strip which bears a small pad of protective material, such as several layers of surgical gauze which may or may not be impregnated with medicinal materials. In addition to these, finger stalls and other specially designed bandages are available for fingers or toes. Paddings of special shapes and securing devices of numerous kinds are obtainable and many of these are widely used. However, as far as applicant is aware, none or these is suitable for the specific purpose of wrapping and protecting an injured hand palm, especially the concave part of the palm. Because of its shape, the concave palm is difficult to bandage. In many cases, the whole hand is wrapped massively, converting it temporarily into a sort of stump, which virtually makes it useless until the bandage can be removed. In some cases, of course, such wrapping or casting may be necessary but more often it is done because there is no handy, effective bandage available which will cover the palm and give it the needed protection.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,095,603 there are described combinations of stalls and splints for protecting an injured hand. These are not intended for or suitable for the palm of the hand. Similarly, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,561,863, a glove type wrapper or bandage having finger elements is described which might be useful for certain injuries but not for the palm of the hand. Several other patents show glove-type wrappers, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,074,762 and 3,084,686. The latter is indicated as being useful also for wrapping a foot, but it does not appear to be suitable for use on an injured concave-shaped palm. U.S. Pat. No. 2,658,510 shows a foot bandage said to be useful also on hands but it again is not suitable for the purposes of the present invention. The glove type devices obviously are made in right and left hand forms, and their use, even if they were otherwise suitable, would necessitate stocking both right and pg,3 left gloves, with added inventory and expense to the user or supplier.
Some general type bandages having radially or other extending arms are shown in such references as U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,297,028 and 3,520,306. While doubtless useful for other purposes these devices again are not satisfactory for protecting the injured palm of a hand because of its peculiar concave shape and the difficulty of keeping the bandage properly in place, or keeping the padding properly in place, once the bandage has been applied to the area. In particular, the prior art devices are not designed to allow the patient to use his injured hand. Many and probably most hand injuries are not completely disabling and it is desirable to permit the injured person to continue to do what work he can. If the hand is so extensively wrapped as to make it useless, this is often an unnecessary handicap.
A particular object of this invention, then, is to make available a versatile bandage which can be applied to either hand, which will stay in place, and which will give maximum freedom, so far as use of the thumb and fingers is concerned, while protecting well the concave hollow palm where the injury is. To do this in a way that makes the bandage applicable equally well to either the right or the left hand, with securing elements located so as to give the necessary holding ability, is a further object.